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Monday, September 21, 2009

How to Roast Anaheim Green Chiles (Hatch Chiles) on a Barbecue Grill and Recipes with Green Chiles

If you can't go to New Mexico and smell the green chiles roasting, you can roast your own!

Recently I spotted some Hatch Green Chiles at Whole Foods and couldn't resist buying them, partly because my blogging friend Karina had just posted Roasted Green Chile Stew and talked about the annual chile roasting ritual in New Mexico. I love roasted chiles, and since I have that new natural gas grill, I thought it would be fun to try roasting green chiles on a barbecue grill.

Before I get into the roasting instructions, I want to issue a warning. The Hatch green chiles I roasted are Anaheim chiles, a very mild variety. You can use these instructions for roasting hotter chile varieties, but for chiles that are very hot, wear latex or rubber globes when handling. Even with the mild Anaheim chiles, be careful not to rub your eyes or put your hands near your face while you're handling the chiles. Everyone got that? Okay, now let's roast some chiles.

These are the Anaheim chiles from Hatch, New Mexico that I bought at Whole Foods. If you're growing your own Anaheim chiles, they might not ever get this big, but they're pretty easy to grow.

Start by preheating your gas or charcoal grill to high (you can only hold your hand there for about one second at that heat.) Then begin prepping chiles by cutting off the stem end and cutting the chiles in half lengthwise. (Some chiles are fairly flat, and if the chile is flat cut so you have two flat pieces.) You can roast the small ones whole, but when I tried roasting red bell peppers on the grill, I found it was easier to get all the skin charred if you cut the peppers.

Then use a small paring knife to cut out the seeds and membrane that's inside the chiles.

Chiles are roasted skin side down (I just turned these over so you could see how they looked when they started to blister.) This is after 5 minutes.

This is after ten minutes. You want to leave the chiles on until nearly all the skin is blistered and browned. It doesn't matter if they look burned, in fact the charred parts add a lot of flavor. Most of this batch of chiles took about 13 minutes to get done.

As the chiles get done, take them off the grill and put in a glass or plastic bowl.

When all chiles are done, cover the bowl with cling-wrap or a tight fitting lid and let chiles steam for at least 15 minutes.

Then use your fingers to gently peel off the skins from the roasted chiles. (Remember to be careful not to get hands near your face.) If you're lucky, some of the skins will come off all in one piece like this one. (Peeled chile is on the right and skin on the left.)

Here is the whole batch of roasted green chiles after I peeled them. You might want to rinse your hands a few times while you're peeling, but never rinse the chiles, because that washes off a lot of the flavor.

Roasted green chiles are good in many dishes, but if you don't have access to fresh green chiles, you can buy them in a can either whole or diced. In the U.S. this type of mild Anaheim chiles are usually just called "Green Chiles" when sold in a can. The canned ones usually have some of all of the seeds, so they're hotter than the ones you roast yourself.

(If you're lucky enough to have an abundance of peppers in your garden, roasted chiles can be frozen. I might freeze in ice cube trays, freeze the cubes, and then seal the frozen cubes in a bag using the FoodSaver Vacuum Sealer if you have one.)

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Posts may include links to my affiliate account at Amazon.com, and this blog earns a few cents on the dollar if readers purchase the items I recommend, so thanks for supporting my blog when you shop at Amazon!

Now I'm going to be craving chile all day. Boy, I miss living in the southwest.

Throw a bit of pork shoulder in a crockpot with an onion and a few shakes of cumin; when that's reaching fork-tender, add a cup or two of chopped chile. Salt and pepper to taste and wrap up in tortillas, over eggs, on a spoon straight from the crockpot...

I do SO love this blog! I'm thinking we can roast chiles on the grill when it's already fired up for a main dish meat, and then have a supply for various dishes. I'm thinking they'd even be pretty good atop a burger with some Queso Fresco....

I like these in a salad with avocado, radish and lettuce, with a buttermilk-charred Anaheim chile dressing.

Also wonderful in a quiche. Cut roasted chiles in strips, combine with cheese, eggs and crème fraîche. If you don't have crème fraîche, you can make your own. Combine 2 T. plain unflavored yogurt with 2 cups heavy cream. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature for 12 hours or preferably overnight. You'll need to stir it a bit at the end but it should be ready for use. Pour mixture into a pie crust, then bake at 350 F for 45 to 50 minutes or until a knife plunged into the center of the quiche comes out clean.

Thanks for the description on grilling Anaheim chilies. I followed your suggestions last night and it worked splendidly! The chilies made their way onto grilled chicken sandwiches together with lettuce, an onion/jalapeño relish and a slice of Brie. Mmmm!

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